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Wedding planner margin calculator: is this event worth your weekend?

Client budget against vendor costs, your hours at your rate and overhead. Margin in dollars and percent, and per guest.

3 minute readUpdated September 28, 2026

Skip the reading. The tool does this maths for you, free, as you type.

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A wedding budget is not your revenue. Vendors take most of it. What is left after vendors, your hours and overhead is the margin, and on a busy weekend it is often smaller than a day job.

The formula

True cost = vendors + your hours × your rate + overhead % of both. Margin = client budget − true cost. Margin % = margin ÷ budget.

What a good number looks like

20% or more

Priced right.

0% to 20%

Thin. One vendor overage wipes it out.

Negative

You are subsidising the wedding.

What to do about it

  • Track your hours on one wedding honestly. Eighty is common.
  • Charge a planning fee separate from vendor pass-throughs.
  • Save the event in the planner and watch the season, not one weekend.

Now do it with your numbers.

Free, no account, saved on your device. The verdict comes back while you type.

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